Star Wars steampunk aficionados, crack out those old LEGO sets with helicopter propellers, domed canopies, harpoons, gears and other Victorian accoutrements – the From Bricks to Bothans Forums has announced a “Steam-Wars Contest” and is giving away some great LEGO Star Wars sets for prizes.

A Swiss newpaper is reporting that “unidentified thieves have stolen a replica of the Star Wars robot R2-D2 from a film prop museum in Frauenfeld, canton Thurgau.”

The thieves broke into a basement storage room, making off with an exact copy of the famed robot character as well as other items. The 1.2-metre-high robot is worth thousands of Swiss francs according to its owner, Roman Güttinger.

Güttinger’s hoard of props from horror, adventure and science fiction films is considered the biggest private collection in Europe. He has gathered around 2,500 items, including rarities such as the monster from the Alien films and the Batmobile from Batman.

Finally, now we can all understand what the heck R2-D2 is beeping about! Find out how everyone’s favorite astromech droid says useful words like “pizza” and “latte.” You can modify your text or download the translation to your mobile phone!

Sure protocol droids can communicate, but it would have been awesome if they could box as well. According to BoingBoing.net, “1934 was the year that robotic boxing machines were so imminent that Jack Dempsey was moved to declare that he could whip any mechanical robot” — (reported in the April, 1934 issue of Modern Mechanix).

When hordes of collectors invaded the International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show in New York City last week in search of rare and exotic goodies — who knew that our own Goldenrod would be in the mix?

From New York Times:

Nosing about this warren of booths reveals other interesting odds and ends, from a Renaissance bingo set to Roman celestial and terrestrial globes. But ultimately the show is a random compendium of rich people’s toys. Perhaps this is best symbolized by the diamond-encrusted gold brooch modeled after the android C-3PO of the Star Wars movies, at Wartski. Price tag: $30,000.